Anthem Doomed Youth

723 Words3 Pages
The Language Issue by Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill I place my hope on the water in this little boat of the language, the way a body might put an infant in a basket of intertwined iris leaves, its underside proofed with bitumen and pitch, then set the whole thing down amidst the sedge and the bulrushes by the edge of a river only to have it borne hither and thither, not knowing where it might end up; in the lap, perhaps, of some Pharaoh's daughter. Refugee Ship" Lorna Dee Cervantes Like wet cornstarch, I slide past my grandmother's eyes. Bible at her side, she removes her glasses. The pudding thickens. Mama raised me without language. I'm orphaned from my Spanish name. The words are foreign, stumbling on my tongue. I see in the mirror my reflection: bronzed skin, black hair. I feel I am a captive aboard the refugee ship. The ship that will never dock. “Refugee Ship” can be interpreted as an autobiographical piece that directly confronts the identity crisis that defined the Chicano Movement. Broken up into three stanzas, the natural pause between the paragraphs provides reflection and shows the speaker’s hesitation to dig deeper into her identity crisis. In a tone expressing alienation and sorrow, the speaker talks about being isolated from both her American and Mexican cultures. She calls herself “wet cornstarch” sliding past her grandmother’s eyes. Like slippery cornstarch, she is incapable of being absorbed into the tradition and heritage her grandmother represents, but instead slides away. She uses a direct metaphor by calling herself “wet cornstarch” sliding past her grandmother’s eyes. Like slippery cornstarch, she is incapable of being absorbed into the tradition and heritage her grandmother represents, but instead slides away. The speaker also feels out of place when she observes her grandmother, “Bible at her side,” a
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